1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for facilitating the easy carrying of objects. More specifically, it relates to a tray that having a molded human hand imprint that can be used by servers and wait staff to help them balance service items on one hand. People who work at busy restaurants and must constantly carry trays full of food and drinks will appreciate the device.
Carrying multiple delicate or volatile objects at the same time has always presented a problem for people. Humans have only two hands and thus are limited with respect to the number of objects that they can safely carry at one time. Food and Drink items are particularly problematic because the contents can slosh and spill while in transit. Waiters, party hosts, and bar servers have long lamented the hazards of carrying several glasses of drinks at the same time. Even with the drinks placed neatly on a flat surfaced service tray, there is no guarantee that the drinks will arrive at their destination. The hands of servers as well as the serving trays themselves can become wet and slippery, increasing the chance that the tray will be dropped or will slide off the server's hand. To reduce the risk of dropping a tray, a server may wish to transfer it from a wet hand to their other hand. But this can be problematic with trays that are adapted for single hand use. A serving tray is needed that can be used with either a right or left handed user and reduces the risk that a tray will slide off a server's hand while the tray is in transit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention is a tray that provides a user with a better grip on a tray or other flat-bottomed object, and then he or she would have with just their bare hand. The device is made of a tacky material and has an imprinted area for placement of a user's hand. These features reduce the extent of slippage that a user's hand experiences while the device is in use. Prior art devices disclose gloves, pockets, and molds for use in maintain grip on an object, but these devices do not disclose a tray contains a molded imprint having 6 or more finger regions to permit use of the object with either of a user's hands.
A serving tray with a hand shaped cavity on the tray underside is disclosed by Bellissimo, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0215512. The tray is circular with an upper and lower rim. The upper rim prevents drinks or food items from falling off the edge of the tray. Below the tray there is a cavity in the shape of a human hand and arm. The cavity extends from the center of the tray to the edge of the tray, where a portion of the lower rim is cut-away to permit the user's arm to rest in the cavity. To further secure the tray to a user's hand, a strap extends across the finger area of the cavity. To use the device, the user simply slides his or her arm into the cavity, slipping the fingers under the strap and into the finger regions. The tray is then turned over so that the upper rim is directed towards the ceiling. Drinks, food and other service items may be placed on the tray and carried. This structure of this device presents a problem in that the hand shaped cavity can only be utilized by a left or right hand but not both. The present invention provides a number of finger shaped depressions, including a thumb depression on either side of the hand mold. This structure permits a user to switch hands easily, and adjust the tray from one side of the body to the other. Bellissimo does not teach a device capable of being used with either of a user's hands.
Bombara, U.S. Pat. No. 7,717,483 discloses a serving tray similar to that of Bellissimo but does not include the hand mold region. The Bombara tray is circular with an upper rim to prevent food and drinks from falling off the upper surface. Two apertures extend through the tray to permit a securing strap to pass over the upper surface and down through the apertures. A hand is placed, with the palm against the lower surface of the serving tray, and the securing strap is removably secured around the outside of the hand. This helps keep the hand in place while the tray is in use. Unlike the present invention, the Bombardo tray does not feature a hand-shape depression. Bombara requires that a user's hand be strapped in place to reduce slipping while the tray is in use. Switching from one hand to the other requires unsecuring the strap from the first hand and resecuring it to a second. Though this does permit the use of either hand when carrying the tray, it does not offer the ease of hand transfer that the present invention provides.
Another object balancing invention is taught by Alexander, Jr. U.S. Design Pat. No. D633504 shows a glove secured to the back of a tablet computer holder. The device features a sleeve adapted to hold a tablet computer and a mitt secured to the back of the sleeve. The user places the tablet computer in the sleeve and then places his or her hand in the mitt. In this way, the user can hold the tablet computer without having to assert regular pressure on the bottom/back of the device. Like the device of Bombardo, the securement means of Alexander, Jr. makes transfer of the device from one hand to another cumbersome. The present invention does not require straps to reduce slipping of the tray.
The prior art does not teach a serving tray that provides a plurality of finger shaped depressions to allow a user to user either of his hands to hold the tray. The present invention provides such a tray that can be used with either of a user's hands. It substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing object carrying devices. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.